Courteney Cox was born on June 15th, 1964 into an affluent Southern family. Her father Richard L Cox (1930-2001) was a business man married to her mother Courteney. She was the baby of the family with two older sisters (Virginia and Dottie) and an older brother Richard Jnr. She was raised in an exclusive society town, Mountain Brook, Alabama. Courteney was the archetypal Daddy's girl, and therefore was understandably devastated when, in 1974 her parents divorced, and her father moved to Florida.

She became a rebellious teen, and did not make things easy for her mother, and new step-father, New York businessman Hunter Copeland. Now, she is great friends with both. She attended Mountain Brook High School, where she was a cheerleader, tennis player and swimmer. In her final year, she received her first taste of modeling. She appeared in an advert for the store, Parisians. Upon graduation, she left Alabama to study architecture and interior design at Mount Vernon College. After one year she dropped out to a pursue a modeling career in New York, after being signed by the prestigious Ford Modelling Agency. She appeared on the covers of teen magazines such as Tiger Beat and Little Miss, plus numerous romance novels. She then moved on to commercials for Maybeline, Noxema, New York Telephone Company and Tampax.

While modeling, she attended acting classes, as her real dream and ambition was to be an actress. In 1984, she landed herself a small part in one episode of "As the World Turns" (1956) as a young débutante named Bunny. Her first big break, however, was being cast by Brian De Palma in the infamous Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in The Dark". In 1985, she moved to LA to star alongside Dean Paul Martin in "Misfits of Science" (1985). It was a flop, but a few years later, she was chosen out of thousands of hopefuls to play Michael J. Fox's girlfriend, psychology major Lauren Miller in "Family Ties" (1982).

In 1989, "Family Ties" (1982) ended, and Cox went through a lean spell in her career, featuring in unmemorable movies such as Mr. Destiny (1990) with Michael Caine. Fortunes changed dramatically for Cox, when in 1994, she starred alongside Jim Carrey in the unexpected hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), and a year later she was cast as Monica Geller on the hugely successful sitcom "Friends" (1994). It was this part that turned her into an international superstar and led to an American Comedy Award nomination. In 1996 Cox starred in Wes Craven's horror/comedy Scream (1996/I) . This movie grossed over $100 million at the box office, and won Cox rave reviews for her standout performance as the wickedly bitchy and smug TV reporter Gale Weathers. She went on to play this character twice more, as Scream became The Scream Trilogy. Not only did her involvement in this movie lead to critical acclaim, but it also led to her meeting actor husband David Arquette. He played her on screen love interest Dewey, and life imitated art as the two fell in love for real. Their wedding took place in San Francisco, at the historic Grace Cathedral atop Nob Hill, on June 12th, 1999. Joined by 200 guests, including Cox's film star friends Liam Neeson and Kevin Spacey, the happy couple finally became Mr and Mrs Arquette.
IMDb Mini Biography By: David Ross

Spouse
David Arquette (12 June 1999 - present) (separated) 1 child

Trade Mark

Occasionally stars in films with husband David Arquette.

Trivia

Underwent laser eye surgery to correct her vision from 20/400. [1999]

Dated singer Adam Duritz. Duritz wrote the song "Monkey" for Courteney (from the Counting Crows album "Recovering the Satellites"). [1997]

Had a six-year relationship with actor Michael Keaton. [1989-1995]

Originally offered the role of Rachel but she preferred Monica on "Friends" (1994).

Named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1995 and appeared on the cover.

Parents divorced when she was 10, both remarried.

Studied architecture at Mount Vernon College for a year.

Was voted Best Dressed Female Television Star. [1997]

In 1984 she worked at F.B.I. (Frontier Booking International) a concert booking agency in New York run by Ian Copeland (brother of Stewart Copeland of the Police) and a relative of hers.

Was the first person to ever say "period" on American TV, in a Tampax commercial.

Announced in September, 1999 that her new legal and professional surname would be Courteney Cox Arquette. As a result the cast and producers of her "Friends" (1994) TV show also added "Arquette" to their own names in the opening credits of the 1999 season's premiere episode. Following the death of her father Richard Cox in 2001 she returned to her maiden name professionally.

Has two older sisters and one older brother: Dottie Pickett (née Cox), Virginia and Richard.

Has three dogs: Ella, Rags and Mr. McBarker (Mac for short). The latter is, rather unfortunately, a female.

Is the only central member of the "Friends" (1994) cast to have received an actual acting Razzie nomination. She was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress for the film 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001). The other cast members (except for Matthew Perry) have received nominations in categories such as Worst Screen Couple and Worst New Star.

Her daughter's name Coco came from a compromise between her and husband David Arquette. Because of her Southern roots she wanted to name her daughter Courteney Cox, as her mom is Courteney Cox and so is she. However, David is half Jewish and it is against Jewish tradition to name a child after a living person. So the name came from the nickname Courteney's friends had for her mother while Courtney was growing up. They called her Mama Coco.

She is one of five actors - along with David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber - to appear in all three "Scream" films.

In March 2005, it was announced that she would become the first spokesperson for Kinerase Skin Care Products.

Her "Friends" (1994) co-star Jennifer Aniston is the godmother of her daughter Coco. Jennifer is also the best friend of Courteney.

Ranked #41 on Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2003.

She is the only regular cast member to not receive an Emmy nomination for their work on "Friends" (1994).

Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 1995 along with Jon Lovitz.

Helped donate reward money to the "Natalie Holloway" investigation, having attended the same high school as Natalie.

Member of the Delta Zeta Sorority.

Her ex-husband, David Arquette, played "Malcolm" in a "Friends" (1994) episode on October 3, 1996. He played a stalker and mistakenly stalked fellow friend Phoebe. This was the first time Courtney and David were seen together on television, even though they weren't a couple at the time.

She was the inspiration to the running gag of the "Carlton Dance" on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990). "The Carlton Dance" was a parody of her dance during the Bruce Springsteen music video "Dancing in the Dark."

Has a cousin named Jennifer Kristin Cox, who is also an actress.

Her hosting of the 1995 airing of "SNL" began with a re-enactment of her "Dancing in the Dark" video appearance, with Adam Sandler copying Bruce Springsteen.

Good friends with Laura Dern and Ellen DeGeneres.

Was once considered for the role of Marisa Coulter in The Golden Compass (2007).

Best known by the public for her starring role as Monica Geller-Bing on "Friends" (1994).

After the birth of her daughter, started to train in Karate. As of 2009, she holds a brown belt.

Worked at video game developer/publisher Bethesda briefly in the 1980s.

Lives in Beverly Hills and Malibu, California.

Former granddaughter-in-law of Cliff Arquette and Julie Harrison.

Former daughter-in-law of Lewis Arquette and Brenda Denaut.

Was six months pregnant with her daughter Coco when she completed filming on the final series of "Friends" (1994).

Returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Coco in order to begin filming The Longest Yard (2005).

Personal Quotes

I like keeping Gale bitchy. She has a reputation to live up to. She may have changed her hair but not much else. [About her character Gale Weathers in the Scream (1996/I) series.]

I get so bored! I had a treadmill... I gave it to my mom. I had a stairmaster... gone. I had a recumbent bike...I dont know where that is. So I hate exercise except for Pilates.

I'm a gemini, and I get so bored so easily. I mean, I have moved six times in the last eight years.

A lot of my humor does come from anger. It's like, you're not gonna pull one over on me-which is pretty much my motto anyways.

I'm not a huge fan of romantic comedies- my taste goes much more to the offbeat and dark. I'd love to sink my teeth into something like Fargo (1996).

I only have to do three things to look halfway decent, curl my eyelashes, fill in my eyebrows and put some lipstick on.

I have to be physically attracted to someone. But I can't just be with someone just because it's great sex. Because orgasms don't last long enough.

Honesty is the key to a relationship. If you can fake that, you're in.

Before he moved in, David would say 'How are we ever going to meld together, because our tastes are so different? Maybe it's because we're truly in love that we can. [On husband David Arquette.]

I want people to be happy, so I think that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do the show in the first place... just to see somebody, even if it's just for the day. To see their life change for that moment when they walk into the room and are that happy. It really makes you cry. It does. I hope I don't lose this feeling. [On producing her show "Mix It Up" (2003).]

It's so much fun for us. I have a new love for the show since I've gotten into this relationship. Honestly, I was a little bored the first four years. I had some fun things to do and some good relationships, but Monica was developing and I felt like there was a lot of straight man stuff. Now we have something really fun to play - two really neurotic people trying to have a relationship. They're both afraid to commit, to get married, or take these steps. I have a really good time playing with him [Matthew Perry]. It's kind of like our relationship in real life - except we don't kiss. [About playing Monica and Chandler on "Friends" (1994).]

I can definitely act even if I don't appear to have any particular style. I know I'm not a method actress, but I do believe in being physically and emotionally prepared for the role. If I have a scene where I'm supposed to be emotionally drawn out, then I'll think of the saddest thing in my life. If I have to be five pounds lighter to be the right physical type, I'll run my little tail around the block to make the weight.

I wasn't going to go far. I'm only 5' 5" and I don't have that look. (on her early modeling days)

[Asked "What's my pet peeve?"] Not being heard. You don't have to agree with me, just hear me. (Marie Claire - August 2006 - "The Real Me: Courteney on Courteney")

I don't think anyone in our show really comes off smelling like a rose. (on the show "Dirt")

[On 'Scream'] I wanted to play Gail Weathers because she was a real bitchy character. You know, I was on Friends and I played this nice girl Monica, but Gale, she was so ruthless.